The Lullaby Job
by White Wolf Fan Fiction
Summary: Tabitha Pierce was never supposed to get involved, but now that she is… Eliot doesn't want to let her go. Not yet… maybe not ever. And she isn't about to let him, either.
White Wolf Fan Fiction Presents:

~The Lullaby Job~

A Leverage Story

* * *

 **Title:** The Lullaby Job

 **Words:** 5,175

 **Warnings:** Yaoi (Boy Love), major fluff, minor violence, hurt/comfort, minor angst

 **Pairings:** Nathan Ford/Eliot Spencer

 **Disclaimer:** I only own Tabitha Pierce and the marks. Any other character mentioned within the story is not mine and belong to their respective owners. Also, I don't own the song lyrics used, they belong to John Lennon's Beautiful Boy, though I did change a few of the lyrics for the story.

 **Summary:** Tabitha Pierce was never supposed to get involved, but now that she is… Eliot doesn't want to let her go. Not yet… maybe not ever. And she isn't about to let him, either.

-0-

"Harland Trevor of Trevor Corp." Nathan Ford started, nodding to the screen where several pictures of a man in his thirties- tall, with short brown hair and dark grey eyes- sat. "Now, this man is not our usual mark, I'll admit- he's clean. Too clean. Hardison."

"Yeah, he's clean alright, but I've found several cases of hidden reports from families torn up by the company this guy owns." Alec Hardison snorted and fiddled with the keys on his laptop before directing everyone's attention to a new slide on the screen in their office. "He's good at what he does, but that's the problem."

"So… why is he our mark?" Sophie Devereaux asked, frowning and she barely had enough time to swat at Parker's hand when the blonde tried to steal a particularly shiny golden- made of actual, legitimate gold- barrette from her hair.

"Trevor Corp. insures families who have had their houses destroyed in a rather unique way. Four specific families have been reported dead, all of them- wife, husband, whatever- in a house fire. Nothing but ash." Hardison grimaced when he pulled up several gruesome pictures of the house fires that had taken place in the last four months. "All of this happened in the last four months and even though these families are dead, Harland still gets an insurance payout. Why?"

"You said the wives and the husbands are found dead in their houses after the fires…" Sophie started, trailing off before Eliot Spencer took over, taking a step towards the screen and then turning around to stare- his eyes narrowed dangerously- at Nathan.

"The kids." he growled out and Hardison and Nathan shared identical looks of worry before Hardison pulled up seven pictures of seven different kids, all with happy smiling faces. "He takes the kids."

"No one can prove anything, Eliot. Which is why this is our case. We're going to take Harland down and save those kids. Are you in?" Nathan tilted his head up a little and regarded Eliot and Parker carefully before smirking when Parker nodded enthusiastically and Eliot snarled at the picture of Harland that Hardison just pulled up.

Finally, Eliot spoke up, "What's the plan?"

-0-

Eliot patrolled the outside perimeter of the building, rolling his shoulders back and stepping hard on the ground to release some of his pent up energy and anger. "What am I doing here, Nate?" he growled out and heard a sigh from the other end of the comms. "How am I supposed to take out the bastards that are behind this if you've got me doing God knows what out here when I could be _inside_."

 _"Eliot, focus."_ Nathan spoke up. _"Parker is going inside as we speak. Parker, how're we doing?"_

 _"Uh, yeah… Nate?"_ Parker's voice crackled in the comm link and Eliot tensed up. _"We have a problem… the bad guys? They've got guns. And they're pointed at the kids."_

"Parker!" Eliot snapped and she made a small offended noise. "God damn it, what the fuck are we doing? Nathan, you said we'd take down Harland and save the kids! This isn't saving the kids!"

 _"Eliot, enough."_ Nathan snapped back and Eliot made a noise of frustration, pacing back and forth outside one of the entrances inside the building. His fists clenched and unclenched over and over again as he listened to the noise inside the comm link. _"Sophie, what's your position?"_

 _"I've got Harland in my sights. But Nathan… he's got men surrounding him everywhere. I won't be able to get close to him without an invitation first. And there's no way of that happening."_

 _"Got it, Hardison? Make it happen."_

 _"Yeah, yeah, on it. I've hacked into the security system and in three… two… fire alarm is triggered and Harland should be coming your way Sophie."_ Hardison said and Eliot listened as Sophie went towards the mark before finishing the last bit of their con, tripping over his bag and switching it with her own- the one with incriminating evidence, a lot of corrupt money, and pictures of his hostages.

 _"O-oh! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, let me- oh just… again, I'm so sorry sir!"_ Sophie played up her part, using a fake italian accent and Eliot heard the gruff response Harland gave, his anger boiling at hearing his voice.

 _"Nathan!"_ Parker's voice came out panicked and Eliot stood at attention. _"One of the guys just received a call and it doesn't look like a very good one. He's got this evil look in his eyes and I think we're running out of time."_

 _"Hold on Parker, police are on their way to collect Harland and once they find what's in his new suitcase, he won't stand a chance against the court."_

"Nathan…" Eliot was running low on patience and Nathan sighed again.

 _"Eliot, stay with the con. Police will be there any minute now-"_

"It'll be too late by then! They'll kill those kids, Nathan! I won't let that happen."

 _"Eliot, Eliot, no. Eliot! They will_ kill _you before you can even-"_ Eliot took out the earbud and stuffed it into his pocket before jerking the door open and he slid inside the building. Making his way through the old warehouse, he narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of the goons and the kids, all huddled against large bulky crates, hugging each other- some of the littler ones crying for their moms and dads- all frightened and lost and confused. There was one though that looked calm, despite everything- the oldest of the bunch, with long dark brown hair tied in a messy ponytail, and big beautiful blue-green eyes that were narrowed at the man holding the gun pointed at them- holding the youngest child in her arms.

"Didn't your mommy ever tell you it's not nice to point at other people?" she asked, spitting the words at him and he growled at her, cocking the gun.

"Shut the fuck up or you'll be the first to go. Where the hell is Harland?" he snapped at his other partners and the one with the phone snorted.

"That was Denver, he and the boss are heading out. They want us to kill the kids and get down to the docks." he said, nodding to the kids and several of them started crying harder, but the one that spoke up, she only glared at the man with the gun. "Shoot them and then get out of here. Meet us at the docks."

He waved for several of the men to follow him and only three stayed behind, all with guns now trained on the kids. But the second the other men left, Eliot made his move, knocking out one from behind before punching the next one that turned to him with a shout of anger and surprise. With two down, Eliot turned to the third one only to see he still had his gun trained on the oldest kid and Eliot panicked. "No!" he shouted, ducking in front of the kid just before the gun went off the man stumbled back with the force of the shot before Eliot cried out, the bullet ripping through his shoulder and lodging into one of the crates just above her head- there was finally fear in her eyes, but Eliot hardly noticed as he scrambled to go after the man, only to be hit with the butt of the gun against his head and he was knocked to the ground as the man made his escape.

"Hey!" the girl shouted, letting go of the littlest one before scrambling over to him and turning him on his side. "No! You're okay Mister… you're okay!" She cried out, putting weak pressure on the bullet wound with her tiny little hands and Eliot groaned, grabbing one of her wrists in his large hands before scrambling to sit up.

"Eliot!" Parker shouted at him, dropping down from the ceiling and he growled at her, eyes narrowed but a little fuzzy- it had been a while since he actually managed to get shot.

"The docks." he gritted out. "Tell Nathan about the docks."

"Already did," she said and kneeled beside him. "We've got them. Just… just focus on you. You just got _shot_ …!" she was a little panicked, he could tell, but that was hardly on his mind as his eyes met the large frightened ones of the little girl.

"Y-you… you saved me…" she whispered and he managed to crack a smile.

"Yeah…" he breathed out, his voice cracking slightly and he never anticipated it when the little girl suddenly launched at him, hugging him tightly and he barely bit back the sharp cry of pain.

"T-thank you…!"

-0-

"Harland and his goons are in jail, thanks to you, Eliot." Nathan said with a smile, standing beside Eliot's hospital bed.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. What about the kids? Are they okay? None of them were hurt, were they?" Eliot snapped, resisting the urge to roll his shoulders, the pain medication he was given not quite taking the edge off quite yet.

Nathan sighed and nodded, running a hand through his hair before sitting down. "Yes, they're fine. We've turned them over to the local authorities and they've taken care of them. They'll go to good homes. But…" he trailed off and Eliot frowned, fearing for the worst.

"What? _What_?" he bit out, urging Nathan to continue.

"The oldest child, the one you'd saved from getting shot. The authorities say they've never seen her before or even heard of her. And she was gone from her room by the time they showed up. Doctor's say though, that she had quite a number of injuries, including a fractured wrist, but they didn't know about the injuries until after they scanned her body for them. She's a brave one, they say."

" _Damn it_ …!" Eliot cried out, both in anger and pain when his movement jarred his injured shoulder. "I should've stayed with her. She should've… I could've…"

He stopped when Nathan rested a hand on his other shoulder, a gentle smile playing at his lips, "What you did, Eliot, was more than we could have hoped for. You saved them.," before he moved his hand up to Eliot's cheek, playing with the hair that fell beside it for a few moments, "You saved _her_. So don't worry about her. She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Eliot relaxed at Nathan's touch and sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat now and he nodded, grimacing slightly as he did, "Okay… okay."

-0-

It took three weeks for the pain in his shoulder to fade to almost non-existent and since then, Eliot had been a little off his game and that was all thanks to a certain little girl that had been stuck inside his head ever since he saved her from the idiot with the gun. And it wasn't until they had found another job that Eliot saw her again.

He didn't normally grift- that was Sophie's job- but when Sophie was _sick_ , well… he had more experience playing a mark than Hardison and Parker did. After all, he didn't stab his marks when trying to seduce them and he certainly didn't talk about Star Trek or something equally as geeky when making conversation with the beautiful woman before him.

"Come now, Mr. Rivera was it?" the woman- Delia Brown, a tall blonde woman with sparkling green eyes- smirked at him and his smile faltered a little. "You _must_ try a little harder if you want to steal my money."

"E-excuse me?" he choked out, fearing for a second that he just blew the whole con, but surely she couldn't have figured him out that fast. "I-I'm afraid I don't-"

"Your story," she told him, her smirk just a tiny bit more hard now, "a… _true_ family man, as you say you are, wouldn't… oh, how you American's say?" she trailed off, as if looking for a word to explain her theory, and Eliot was about to ask Hardison for a way out or even ask Nathan on what to do, but then a miracle happened.

"Daddy!" Eliot flinched slightly before turning and it was only instinct that kept him from making a fool of himself as he stretched his arms out, confusion filling him to the brim- but relief was there too, and surprise, when he realized this was the girl he saved three weeks ago- catching the ten year old just in time, almost falling back on his ass in the process.

"W-what?" he cleared his throat and glanced around, before catching Nathan's eye and the older man smirked, obviously amused.

 _"Go with it Eliot, you can't lose our mark."_

"U-uhm… what… what are you doing here, huh, sweetheart?" Eliot decided to go along after all and looked down at the girl, beaming up at him, a sparkle in her eyes and Eliot had to commend her for the ace acting skills.

"I'm sorry! I know you told me to stay by the park, but I didn't want to wait any longer and you _promised_ you'd take me to the fair!" she whined, and Eliot couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him, a brief smirk flitting across his lips.

"I did, did I?" he asked and the girl pouted up at him before suddenly turning wide eyes towards Delia who was looking back with confusion and slight suspicion. "Ah, uh, Miss Brown. This is my… my daughter…" Eliot barely kept the grimace off his face when he realized he had absolutely _no_ idea who this little girl was, but luckily she piped up before he could give them away.

"I'm Kylie!" she spoke excitedly, acting as if she was cutting Eliot off because of that excitement. "Are you Daddy's new girlfriend?" she asked innocently and Eliot nearly choked, his hand tightening a little on 'Kylie's' shoulder, her jacket scrunching up a little with the movement.

"W-what?" Delia laughed then and shook her head. "No, Kylie, is it? No, I'm not. I'm your Daddy's new business partner," she said and then turned to Eliot with another smirk, "assuming what everything you say is true and your… story checks out…"

"I think, Miss. Brown, you'll find it does. I look forward to doing business with you," Eliot said, forcing himself to stay in character and before Delia could say her goodbyes, 'Kylie' was suddenly dragging him away.

 _"Good job. Meet us back at the bar in fifteen."_

"W-wait, Nathan… w-what about the kid?" Eliot panicked a little and Nathan chuckled into the comm link.

 _"You'll figure something out. Bring her along if you have to."_

"N-no, Nate… no-"

"Who's Nathan?" the girl asked him cheerfully, still tugging on his hand until they were a good distance away and then she slowed to a walk, heading towards where she knew Eliot's car was.

"I think… the better question, kiddo, is who are you? Not that I'm not grateful, but how did you even know-? What's your story?" Eliot shot back, frowning now and he tugged on the kid's hand until she came to a full stop, turning to look up at him and she answered with an identical frown.

"If you want to know, you'll let me come along. After all, you can't get rid of me now, right," she smirked then, batting pretty blue-green eyes up at him and he narrowed his eyes in return, "Daddy?"

"You are… _so_ lucky kid… Alright, fine, but only if you tell me your real name."

The kid chuckled and shook her head, "No good in doing that until after the job, right? Otherwise you'll get my name mixed up and then that weird woman will hurt you because you tricked her. Right?"

Eliot sighed and reluctantly let the topic go, before nodding and he finally led 'Kylie' to his car. "Just… please behave, okay?"

"Of course!" the girl responded with a cheeky little grin and Eliot wondered, as he started the car, if he was going to regret this.

-0-

"Where are we at with the case?" Eliot asked, walking into the slightly darkened room and he accepted a glass of beer from Nathan. They were the only two in the apartment, aside from the girl, who was currently laying on the couch, staring at a computerized fireplace on the tv in the living room.

"We're close. If all goes to plan, Delia will be behind bars for stealing from her clients before the end of the week." Nathan told him, a smile on his face and Eliot sighed with relief before turning to look into the living room and at the couch. "She's a good kid…" Nathan added and Eliot frowned.

"I… we still don't know who she is or where she even came from." Eliot murmured and Nathan shook his head.

"We will, soon. She likes you," he answered, brushing his knuckles against Eliot's cheek and then he stood up, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Trust me."

"I do." Eliot said immediately in response and Nathan chuckled before nodding.

"Come to bed?" he asked and Eliot hesitantly shook his head, turning back to look at 'Kylie'. "Alright, but don't stay up all night. We do have a job to finish, after all."

"Yeah," Eliot sighed and then when he heard footsteps walking away, he quickly added, "Love you," before standing up from the bar and he made his way out into the living room, smirking a little when he noticed the girl was faking being asleep. "I know you're awake, Kylie." he said and she stiffened up a little before sighing and she blinked over her eyes- blue-green tinted gold and red with the fake firelight on the screens. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" she whispered before frowning and looking up at him. "You don't like me very much, do you?" she asked and he frowned in answer, scrunching his nose a little at the question.

"Now why would you think that?" he asked, settling on the edge of the couch and she huddled under her blanket, shrugging a little.

"It's in the tone of your voice when you talk about me." she supplied and he snorted, shaking his head.

"It's not that, kiddo… it's just… I don't like not knowing anything about you. You're a mystery to me… to the team… and I just…" he trailed off with a sigh of frustration and she smiled, reaching out and taking his hand, startling him a little.

"You're not like the others… but Nathan was right, you know? I do like you. You're… nice. It's nice…" she said before yawning and Eliot rolled his shoulders uncomfortably.

"Go to sleep, okay kiddo?" he made to stand up before she tightened her grip on his hand. "What?"

"Will you sing to me?" she asked, her voice soft and tired and Eliot's lips twitched, surprised, into a confused smile. "I overheard Alec and Parker talking about how you have a nice voice. I want to hear it… and… I can't sleep without someone singing the lullaby my mom used to sing to me."

He caved when he heard that and he nodded before settling back down and he watched a sleepy, but triumphant smile cross her face, "What's the lullaby?"

"I remember Mom used to be a big fan of John Lennon… and she would sing Beautiful Boy to me… and obviously she changed a few of the lyrics but…" she trailed off and Eliot chuckled before nodding again.

"Alright, alright, but just this once." he hummed and she nodded her head, yawning again before snuggling into the blanket, " _Close your eyes, have no fear…_ " he kept the melody soft and easy and knew he made the right choice when 'Kylie' smiled happily at hearing the tone of the words. " _The monster's gone. He's on the run and your… your-_ "

"...daddy…" 'Kylie whispered, sounding already almost asleep and Eliot carefully tugged his hand from her own, swallowing hard before moving on.

" _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful… beautiful girl…_ " he repeated those lyrics, keeping his voice soft and low before he stopped, letting his shoulders slump slightly when he noticed she was asleep. Picking himself up from the couch, he made his way over to the stairs that led up to their- his and Nathan's- bedroom, shutting the lights off before finally climbing the stairs, eager to get to bed and get the job over with.

-0-

"K-Kylie… Kylie, you're okay. It's okay. I'm… I'm going to get you out of here." Eliot frowned, breathing hard as he saw a man trained with a gun, pointed against the girl's head, and she looked at him with fearful eyes, a cloth tied around her mouth and around her arms and legs, tied to the chair she was sitting on.

"I'm going to give you two options, Mr. Rivera," Delia smirked at him and he trembled in answer, his gaze flitting back and forth from 'Kylie', Delia, and the man with the gun. "You can call off your dogs, let me and my men go, and you can get your ' _daughter_ ' back, safe and alive, or… well, you can refuse and I will have my man kill her and then kill you, _after_ I've taken every bit of money you own and send your partners to jail for murder and theft."

"Listen you son of a bitch," Eliot cursed, glaring daggers at her now, "I'm going to kill you, I fucking swear."

"Mr. Rivera," Delia snorted, and nodded to her man, "if you even think about moving, he'll kill the little girl before you can even bat an eyelash."

"You leave her out of this! She's done nothing wrong!" Eliot shouted, on the edge, true fear overtaking him and he watched as 'Kylie' closed her eyes, trembling with fear, tears crawling down her cheeks.

 _"Eliot, Eliot, you have to stall her. Parker and I are on our way. Sophie is contacting the feds as we speak, I promise you. We'll get you and Kylie out of there alive. She's going to be okay, you'll both be okay."_

"I-I can't…" Eliot choked out, "S-she's going to kill Kylie and I can't do a damn _thing_ …!"

 _"It's okay Eliot… it's okay… I_ promise _."_ Eliot nodded then and let out a shaky breath, clenching his fists before unclenching them, over and over to try and calm himself.

"If… if I say yes… you'll… you'll let my daughter go? You'll let Kylie go?" he asked, slow and unsure, like the character he was supposed to play and he refused to look at 'Kylie' in the eyes, lest her own fear release his again.

"Of course!" Delia grinned at him, holding out her arms, her bag in her hands.

"What about the money you stole? Huh? And whose to say you won't send your goons after me and Kylie after you're home free? You'll kill us no matter what I say, isn't that right?" Eliot let anger flow through him at that, at the thought of this monster killing 'Kylie'. "The feds will be on your ass faster than you can count to three!"

"I'm afraid… Mr. Rivera, that's the wrong answer." Delia frowned then, eyes narrowed and Eliot panicked.

"No!" he shouted and fell to his knees, eyes wide now, fake fear mixed with genuine panic. "O-okay! I-I'm sorry! J-just _please_ … d-don't hurt my little girl… s-she's all I _got_ …! _Please_ …! Please don't hurt Kylie… s-she's all I got…" his voice broke here and he wasn't so sure he was faking anymore, his eyes trained on the gun that was still held to 'Kylie's' head and his eyes finally met 'Kylie's' again. " _Please…_ " he choked out and Delia sighed, before nodding her head.

 _"Two minutes, Eliot. Two minutes left. You can do this…"_

"Mr. Rivera… I must admit, I was skeptical at first. Why a man like you has such a sweet little daughter. I thought it all a fake, but now I see the genuine father daughter bond you have with little Kylie and I see how _real_ it all is. At least this part. I also have to admit, you're right. Eventually, you will pay, because no one can ever get away with trying to cheat Delia Brown out of her money. But I'll make a promise with you. I'll let your daughter live, when I finally send a man after you. She'll live. You have my word."

Eliot gritted his teeth, keeping quiet and he let out a shaky breath, reigning in his anger and fear, as he watched her turn away, nodding to her guy, and he watched as they left and disappeared out one of the back doors. Three seconds later, Eliot was at the little girl's side, untying her restraints and suddenly she was in his arms, crying against his chest and he murmured sweet nothings as he heard sirens finally come into focus. "Finally…" he whispered and heard Nathan chuckle on the other side of the comms.

 _"We did it, Eliot."_ he whispered and Eliot smiled, tightening his arms around the girl. _"She's safe… thanks to you."_

-0-

"You okay kiddo?" Eliot asked, sitting down on the couch after the girl snuggled into the blanket. "Pretty rough job, huh?" She nodded and let out a little noise as Eliot sighed, "I'm sorry… I should've kept you out of this… it wasn't fair to you and because of that, Kylie, you-"

"...Tabitha…" the girl whispered and Eliot frowned before turning his head to look at the girl and blue-green eyes smiled shyly at him. "M-my name… it's Tabitha… uhm… Tabitha Pierce… b-but… y-you can't tell the police, okay?" she added as a little plea and Eliot smiled then, reaching out a taking her hand in his own.

"Yeah, I promise. You're safe here, with us… with me." he promised her and she smiled at him before closing her eyes and finally letting the exhaustion of the day consume her.

Eliot was a little disappointed he couldn't sing to her, but he counted it as a win, smiling to himself as he got up and went up to bed with Nathan.

-0-

It was two months later when Eliot realized just how far Tabitha had dug into her place inside his heart, after a particularly tough case where Eliot had stupidly gotten himself captured by the mark and scared the fuck out of her.

They'd finally made a little room for her and got her her own bed and things and now Eliot was sitting against the headboard, with Tabitha's head resting in his lap. They had been silent for a few minutes before she finally decided to speak up, "I was two… when my mom and dad were killed…" she whispered and Eliot sucked in a sharp breath. "They were murdered by a man name Carver Hunt… but I don't remember anything about the actual case. A nice man, a detective- uhm… Vincent Rogue- he… he took care of me for a little while until he finally found me a nice family that could adopt me. It was just a family of two… a dad and a big brother… but they welcomed me. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that my new dad wasn't the man I thought he was, but my big brother… he… he was everything I could have ever asked for. He took care of me, protected me, loved me… and I loved him."

"What… what happened?" Eliot questioned, his voice rough all of a sudden and Tabitha trembled, burying her face into the blanket curled tight around her. "Tabby…?"

"O-our dad… he abused Oliver, my big brother… but no one knew about it and I didn't know until a few years ago… and I wanted to help, but Ollie… h-he told me not to because I might get hurt. He protected me from our dad until one night he feared he couldn't any longer and he helped me get away, helped me escape from his dad. I wanted him to come with but I… h-he couldn't…" she sniffled and Eliot brought his hand up to brush his fingers through her hair, sighing softly.

"It's okay… you're safe here…" he whispered and she shook her head before finally looking up at him, blue-green eyes big and wide.

"B-but Ollie is still trapped with that monster…" she choked out and Eliot frowned before suddenly smiling as he got an idea.

"He's not… I can promise you that." Eliot told her and she frowned, confused.

"How do you know that?" she asked and Eliot chuckled.

"What if I told you that I know for a fact that Oliver is safe, with another family? Would you believe me?" he asked and hesitantly she nodded her head. He made a note- as he smiled and nodded his head at her- to ask Hardison about looking up Tabitha's old foster family and then asking Nathan about setting up a plan to free her brother from his dad, but for now, he settled back with Tabitha, comfortable for once.

"Ollie used to sing to me too… but I wasn't lying when I said my mom used to sing it to me. I-I remember her voice, but that's all I remember… and Ollie… he sung it too, when I couldn't sleep because of nightmares or because I thought there were monsters in the dark coming to get me." Tabitha let a sheepish smile creep over her lips before yawning, telling Eliot how tired she really was.

"Do you want me to sing to you?" he asked, for the first time since he met her, and she looked up in surprise, before smiling happily and she nodded.

" _Close your eyes, have no fear… The monster's gone. He's on the run and your-_ "

"Daddy…" Tabitha repeated, like the first time he sang the song, and Eliot chuckled, relaxing and hugging Tabitha to his chest.

"Your daddy's here…" he whispered, and Tabitha made a noise of content, unaware- though Eliot knew- that Nathan was standing at the doorway of her room, a gentle and loving smile playing at his lips, his arms crossed at the chest. " _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful… beautiful girl…_ "

-0-

When Tabitha was sound asleep, Eliot removed himself from the bed after giving her a kiss to the forehead goodnight and he walked over to Nathan. And Nathan kissed him, full of love and happiness, before he pulled back. "I called the court today…" Nathan said and Eliot froze, eyes wide, unable to comprehend what that could possibly mean. "We'd have to give them a fake name, of course, but… if you want… she can be ours. She can be our daughter, legal and everything."

"You would… you would do that? For me?"

"For you Eliot, I would promise the world if I could…" Nathan chuckled and Eliot grinned, hugging him tightly before turning to look at the sleeping girl. "If that's what you and Tabitha want…" Nathan added and Eliot nodded.

"Yeah…" he whispered, "Yeah, I think it is."

-0-

 _Close your eyes,_

 _Have no fear._

 _The monster's gone._

 _He's on the run and your daddy's here._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl..._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl._

 _Before you go to sleep,_

 _Say a little prayer._

 _Every day in every way, it's getting better and better._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl..._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_

 _Beautiful girl._

 _Out on the ocean sailing away._

 _I can hardly wait,_

 _To see you come of age._

 _But I guess we'll both just have to be patient,_

 _'Cause it's a long way to go._

 _A hard row to hoe..._

 _Yes, it's a long way to go._

 _But in the meantime,_

 _Before you cross the street,_

 _Take my hand..._

 _Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl..._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl._

 _Before you go to sleep,_

 _Say a little prayer._

 _Every day in every way, it's getting better and better._

 _Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,_

 _Beautiful girl..._

 _Darling, darling, darling..._

 _Darling Tabitha._


End file.
